Mona Lisa Lane is near Popp’s Fountain, in the southwest corner of City Park. Local legend has it that in the early 1900s, a wealthy philanthropist provided the city with a large collection of statues, with the condition that one of them in particular be given preferential treatment and must stand alone. This particular statue commemorated the donor’s daughter Mona, who had passed away. The bronze statue depicted a young woman in a pose reminiscent of “The Birth of Venus,” but with a mysterious Mona Lisa smile. The city built a mile-long walkway that ended in a cul de sac where the statue rested on a pedestal.

However, the site became popular as a teen hangout, and a nearby car chase toppled the statue. It’s pieces were retired to the basement of the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the teens who frequented the spot started spreading stories of Mona’s ghost. The tales say Mona appears all over City Park, not just her cul de sac. She is a figure dressed all in white eith a forlorn expression, and is reported to float up to car windows and scratch on the glass before she disappears. Reports say her lane has now become overgrown.

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Comment (1)

I visited Mona Lisa Lane in the late 80’s….I was actually there because I’d heard the stories. I don’t remember the gate being there but I remember parking on Zachary Taylor and walking down the lane. I went in the morning because even though I was a pretty big young man, I was by myself and a little shaky. It was about 11am but it was a cloudy overcast day. I got all the way down the lane to the cul de sac and talked myself into sitting down and looking around. I was sitting in front of the big oak tree on the south east side of the circle looking at where the statue would have been….when I go an eerie feeling that I was being watched……I started to get up and chills ran down my neck as the hair on my arms stood straight up. I didn’t see anything but my instincts told me to get the hell out of there. I started walking back up the lane toward my car and about half way there I could swear I heard footsteps about 50 feet back…..I looked over my shoulder but didn’t turn my head all the way around because I didn’t want to stop. In my peripheral vision I could see what looked like the shadow of someone coming fast……I took off running until I got to my car. When I looked down the lane, I saw someone that may have been female looking up the street at me……and then all of a sudden it was gone. I turned the key and started my car………hit the accelerator and never looked back.

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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.